Cubase Pro 8 Review – New Features Part 1

Welcome to Part 1 of my Cubase Pro 8 review. In this first part I will be focusing on the new features in Cubase Pro 8  starting with Render in Place and VCA Faders.

RENDER IN PLACE

Render in Place is a great feature which allows you to bounce MIDI and audio parts very quickly to a new track while retaining their original position in the arrangement.

You are able to render the following:

  • MIDI parts on an instrument track
  • Audio tracks
  • Audio events or parts on an audio track
  • Instrument tracks
  • A range selection on an audio or instrument track
  • A range selection on multiple audio or instrument tracks 

You can see from the screenshot on below that you have a number of options available to determine how your file is rendered.

The first set of options allow you to bounce as Separate Events, Block Events or One Event.

Separate Events
You can see below that in this mode that any separate parts that exist on one track are rendered as separate audio parts on a new track.

Block Events will render adjacent parts as one block of audio on a new track but parts which are not adjacent to each other will be kept as separate blocks.

One event will render parts on the same track as one audio file whether they are adjacent or not.

Dry will bounce your MIDI to another track as an audio file and move all the settings (including automation) from your source to a new track, including the source automation. This is useful if you want to manipulate MIDI as an audio file but are not 100% decided on any plugins you may have on it at that time.

Channel Settings includes your insert FX, EQ and channel strip settings.

Complete Signal Path, as you might expect includes everything in the channel path: channel settings, group track settings and send FX settings.

Complete Signal Path + Master FX includes all of the previously mentioned settings and the Master bus settings.

Below this you have Mix Down to One Track which is explained in the screenshot below.

Tail Size allows you to extend the area of the part being rendered by a predetermined amount which can be set in either bars & beats or seconds. Useful for pasts with FX like reverb or delay. 
Bit Resolution can be set to 16, 24 or 32 bit.
You can also decide whether to add a unique name to the rendered file or, by default, name it according to the source region. You can also specify a unique file path or use the project folder which is the default setting.

Finally you have a number of options to determine what you want to do with the source that you are rendering:


Once you have decided on your settings the next time you need to render anything you can simply select Render (with current settings). Render in Place is a great feature and the depth in the available options allows for maximum flexibility in the use of this new addition to Cubase. For example, I found it particularly useful to render separate events so I could see the original arrangement but was then able to manipulate the files as I would any other piece of audio. It was also great for sound design when combining layered sound fx in to one audio file for archive or further processing as one file.

VCA FADERS


I use VCA (Voltage Controlled Amplifier) faders a lot when mixing in Pro Tools and was pleased to see that this feature was also in Cubase Pro 8 (not available in Cubase Artist 8).

It is a feature first found on analogue hardware consoles, which allowed you to control the volume level of a number of faders from a single fader on the console.

I tend to use this, for example when I have set up the individual balance between a large number of backing vocals and want to perform volume automation to all the vocals as a group from a single fader, or in the example to the left, I am controlling the different instruments in a horn section.

VCA Faders can be created at the time a Link Group is created as below or you can add a VCA fader to selected channels by simply control clicking in the miser window while tracks are selected and using the function Add VCA Fader to Selected Channels

They can also be created unassigned and be assigned to a link group at a later time. In this instance they are added to the right end of the fader section and do not have a fader cap. You can also create a VCA fader to control a number of previously created VCA Faders which are controlling Link Groups.  There is a lot of scope here to manage complex mixes and I felt completely at home mixing in Cubase with this familiar feature.

In the next part I will look at Chord Pads.

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